Thursday, March 29, 2012

Lord Lovidicus - Trolldom

Lord Lovidicus is amazing. This artist seems to have the exact dungeon synth mood, pure fantasy atmosphere reached through naïve minimalism, and there is so much of it, and nobody seems to have noticed. The synths are grimy and ancient sounding, and the recording quality is at that perfect medium between crusty lo-fi atmosphere and clear listenability. Undoubtedly this artist is prolific, and so there might be a bit too much to digest in a couple listens. I'd recommend people give this album a few spins first before moving on to the other ones, though it's certainly worth your while to check those out too. They can all be found here. Unfortunately, they are all 128 kbps; however, through some email correspondence with Crow, the guy behind this music, he said that he might upload them at a higher quality sometime down the road.

But back to this album. These fantastic keys bring one's mind to thoughts of unrestful crypts, labyrinthine forests, and rotting castles. LL has a technique of building up tense riffs and then dropping off to an isolated string melody, which has an extremely majestic sound, the kind that brings goosebumps, assuming one has created the proper set and setting for appreciating fantasy art.

It's difficult to point to specific influences for LL, which is quite a good thing. I'd say, based on the cover songs of various albums and the general vibe, video game music plays a strong role (it is named after an Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion character, after all), but there are quite a few Burzum covers as well. I see no Mortiis covers, though the atmosphere feels strongly similar to me. Overall, I'd say LL is a very unique artist, despite the cover songs; there is no single musician I can point to as having his sound. In fact, I'd say LL has managed to capture a very pure form of the dungeon synth spirit for this point in time. It's something instinctual, in my opinion, and I think Crow has tapped into the main vein of whatever that spirit is.

It's "magical castle music," if the term "dungeon synth" couldn't properly describe it. There's no hesitation in my saying that this could not more strongly encapsulate what dungeon synth is. This genre has artists, but it needs listeners, people to appreciate the lonely mystical majesty. I know there must be those out there who have yet to encounter the music of their soul, the fantastic dirges of dreamland, which beckon the listener into the forgotten misty twilight. If that sounds like you, why not give this album a few spins?

Take part in the battles of the imagination, the mystic spells summoning forth unknown ghosts of the castle, which itself was built in times long forgotten. And also take part in the joyous moments of victory and revelry, at least as far back as the ancient tales can recall them. Even though this album is composed with "modern" keyboards, the sound is as ancient and decayed as a crumbling tower, and the atmosphere is just as mysterious and magical.